The Oregon State Beavers have rescheduled a future football game against a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent, FBSchedules.com has learned.
Oregon State previously signed a contract to host the Sacramento State Hornets of the Big Sky Conference at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore., on Sept. 5, 2026. The contract was executed on Jan. 19, 2021.
According to a copy of an amendment to the contract obtained from Sacramento State University via a state public records request, the two schools have agreed to reschedule the contest for Saturday, Sept. 1, 2029. All other terms of the contract, including a $600,000 guarantee for the Hornets, remain the same.
The Sac State amendment was signed earlier this year, just a couple of months before Oregon State scheduled a home-and-home series with the Houston Cougars for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. The Oregon State-Houston game in 2026 is now scheduled for the same date that the Beavers were previously slated to host Sacramento State.
It’s not certain why the Sacramento State game was rescheduled, but there are a couple of possibilities. First and obviously, it could have just been a date conflict. Second, the Beavers could simply be clearing a spot on their schedule to play the in-state rival Oregon Ducks.
Another possibility is that Oregon State is trimming down its 2026 non-league opponents in preparation for a revived Pac-12 that season or some other conference transition.
Oregon State is one of two remaining members of the Pac-12 Conference along with Washington State following the departure of 10 members to the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC. The Beavers will play as a Pac-12 member this season and have a scheduling alliance with the Mountain West Conference.
The Beavers can play the 2025 season as a Pac-12 member as well, per NCAA rules. Division I multi-sport conferences must have at least seven members, but can operate for two years with less than the minimum under NCAA Bylaw 20.02.9.2, which gives them a two-year grace period.
Where will Oregon State and Washington State end up? Hopefully we will learn the answer to that question soon.
Football Schedules
There’s a YouTube podcast from this guy Trey called College Underdogs which covers Group of 5. He had this theory that holds water pretty well where the Pac-2 and Air Force could go to the American Conference.
Air Force would definitely make sense since Army and Navy are already there.
That is fine for the Air Force Academy but makes little sense for the two former Power-5 members. There would be an extreme lack (Power-4) of revenue.
I think there is value to the Pac-12 (Pac-Whatever) brand… I think they will do everything they can to hold on to that. My opinion…
I have second thoughts of having Air Force heading to AAC & it’s all excellent however more importantly I am very proud of brave men & women who protect our freedom every day although it’s very nice that there is athletics especially Football at all three service academies.
As @Spencer Coldburn alluded to, a move to the AAC only makes if the PAC2 is shutoff from even partial shares in the P4 or if the AAC is able to expand with a full pod/division of western schools included.
And if the media deal prospects are comparable, the PAC2 could instead try to bring the already known schools looking to defect (SDSU, UNLV, CSU, Boise) with Air Force offered and invite and then a toss up to Wyoming, Fresno, Utah St being added. This would significantly reduce the travel expenses in comparison to joining the AAC while including key metros and recruiting statea
Idk about the other Mtn West schools but what was said that it boils down to is the American wants all the service academies in one conference and make the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy games all count towards conference standings. That would also require like you said somewhat of a Western pod for the AAC and it’d be cheaper for ESPN to pay for the Pac-2 if they weren’t in a power conference.
The Army-Navy game, by design, is played on the stand-alone weekend, after the conference championships. And while Army and Navy are AAC football members, their game (again by design) does not (and never will) count toward the AAC standings. Therefore, whether Air Force is an AAC member or not, any and all of a Commander-in-Chief argosy of games would never count toward the conference standings.
For the foreseeable future as of July 1st this year, the PAC-2 have made the transition to Group-of-5 status. No one wants or needs to overpay for their football services.
Add North Dakota State, South Dakota State, UC Davis, Sacramento State, to Mountain West. Boise, Fresno, Colorado State, San Diego State, Air Force, Utah State, UNLV get ‘promoted’ to the Pac 9. After every Season (or 2) the top (or top 2) in Mountain West move up, bottom team (or 2) in Pac-9 move down. Play all 8 others in your conference every year plus one crossover. This assures that Colorado State/Air Force, OSU/WSU, Nevada/UNLV, etc. play every year- even if they are in different conferences.
I have zero concerns over future of Oregon State & Washington State
Idk about the other Mtn West schools but what was said that it boils down to is the American wants all the service academies in one conference and make the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy games all count towards conference standings. That would also require like you said somewhat of a Western pod for the AAC and it’d be cheaper for ESPN to pay for the Pac-2 if they weren’t in a power conference.
Nice comments.
Excellent job Nick Capasso!!!